Please join me in cosponsoring the Helping America Re-Develop High-Quality Accessible Training (HARD HAT) Act of 2018. This legislation will help ensure those contractors doing business with the federal government to revitalize our national infrastructure
are also training and reinvesting in our workforce through high quality apprenticeship programs.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction, along with health care and personal care, will account for one-third of all new jobs through 2022.[1] It is well known that our nation’s infrastructure is in an increasingly dire state. As the federal
government contracts with companies to conduct repair work and build new infrastructure projects, we need to encourage those same contractors to work to ensure the country has a well-trained workforce to tackle these challenges.

The HARD HAT Act bars federal agencies from awarding certain construction contracts unless, the contractor agrees to require at least 20 percent of their non-management employees to complete or be enrolled in a Department of Labor recognized Registered Apprenticeship
Program as of the date on which construction begins. This requirement applies to contracts of $1.5 million or more for the construction or resurfacing of highways, roads, streets, bridges, or railways, as well the building of tunnels, sewage and waste facilities
and public buildings.

Encouraging companies to reinvest in their workforce through high quality apprenticeship programs will ensure we always have a trained and adept workforce to fix our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. If you have any questions or would like to cosponsor,
please contact James DeAtley (james.deatley@mail.house.gov, 5-8699) on my staff.